Something Weird Is Happening to the 'Alien Megastructure' Star

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As
far as weird stars go, few are as strange as KIC 8462852, nicknamed Tabby's
star. Tabby's star randomly dims and brightens for apparently no reason, which
led some astronomers in 2015 to hypothesize that some sort
of 'alien megastructure' was orbiting the star, occasionally blocking the
light.

Other
scientists proposed a large asteroid field or a swarm of comets instead,
but we still don't really know what's going on.
All of that might be about to change. Early this morning, astronomers
detected one of those characteristic dips that are unique to Tabby's star.

All
of the other dips that we know of are from historical observations, but this
one is happening right now, which gives astronomers a chance to
really figure out what's happening.

But
in order for that to happen, we need to point a telescope—or ideally several—in
the direction of Tabby's star as soon as possible. This can be a challenge due
to the way that telescope time is proportioned. Telescope time is usually
scheduled months or years in advance, and it's not always easy to reschedule
something at the last minute.

Tabby's Star has been dimming dramatically over the past few days.

If
this were any other star, getting even one telescope at such short notice would
be nearly impossible. But Tabby's star is not a normal star, and its behavior
is such a puzzle that it's likely multiple telescopes will be able to fit in at
least a few observations.

The Swift space telescope has already scheduled multiple observations of the star at
various times tomorrow, and a number of other telescopes around the world are
likely going to squeeze in an observation or two and
there's a good chance that with these new observations we'll finally be able to
solve this puzzle at last.